MIDLAND, Texas — NOTE: Due to the extremes of the child's reported conditions, NewsWest 9 will be limiting the descriptions of the child's injuries.
Two parents were arrested Monday for failing to get their two-year-old medical attention after he suffered severe injuries and malnourishment.
According to the arrest affidavit, on Monday the Midland Police Department (MPD) responded to a call from the Signature Care Emergency Center regarding a two-year-old child that came in with laceration to his head and reported to be extremely skinny, not very responsive and had bruising.
When officers arrived, they spoke to the nurses that treated the child and told police that the child "was extremely malnourished" and "nearly deceased due to such low blood pressure."
According to the affidavit, the two-year-old only "weighed roughly 24 lbs." and had blood sugar levels of 48.
Due to the extent of his injuries, the child was airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock for further treatment.
MPD arrested Ernesto Melendez and stepmother Erika Hinojos and charged them for injury to a child for knowing the seriousness of the child's injuries along with his malnourishment and not getting the child medical attention in accurate enough time.
According to the affidavit, both parents waited four days to take the child to an urgent care for treatment.
The affidavit also reported that Melendez admitted that on Oct. 24 the child fell off of a high TV stand causing a two-to-three-inch opening on his head. To stop the bleeding, they super glued the gash shut, but the child would scratch and pull on his scalp causing him to bleed more.
Hinojos admitted following those injuries, the child would not eat, and it had been two days since he last eaten food.
Melendez and Hinojos' bond has not been set.